Are there any others that have decided that mixing and matching different fronts and rears fits their needs. I ran alot of tires on the DL650 and I've settled on three combo depending on my needs at the time.
Playing around the house {dirt road fun} and for trips under around 4-5K miles- Kenda Big Block front with a Shinko 705 on the rear.
Trips that will inevitably end up on dirt roads but will be under 10K miles- Shinko 705s front and rear. To get that sorta mileage out the rear I have to be very easy on throttle {both accel. and decel. in addition to keeping speeds under 80mph} and I have to run crazy high rear pressures {around 50psi}.
Trips that will be over 10K miles will get a Shinko 705 front and a car tire on the rear. To tell the truth, the car tire really surprised me. I figured I would hate it but would "grin and bear it" for the mileage. No,,,,, the thing actually handles and has great traction on road and if you don't ever do any dirt stuff, it's the perfect rear tire for commuting and even playing in the twisties when running around 20psi. Only drawback on tarmac is the extra reciprocating mass hurting acceleration and the unsprung weight hurting composure at the ragged edge of handling while on rough pavement.
Where the car tire does sorta suck is off road handling {not traction,,, those are two different things though some confuse them alot}. The huge, flat profile catches every rock and rut and it disrupts the ride. Ever had a car with huge front and rear tires? If so, you are used to the term "trammeling" in which large tires hunt and find wear ruts and grooving in the road. Well, the car tire hunts and finds ruts and rock whether you want to find them or not. And like on tarmac, the extra unsprung mass hurts damping when you get into washboard but it's worse because the washboard on dirt roads is usually alot worse than on tarmac. Now, on smoothish dirt and gravel, not bad at all and I think iit may give better traction than a 705 or even the Big Block.
BTW,,,,, has anyone ever run a Shinko 705 front completely out?
I do alot of trips and anytime I start a longish trip I like to start it on new tires front and rear. The most I have put on a front 705 has been around 15K miles and it still had plenty of tread. That tire had a 10K mile trip it pumped up "hard as a rock" for most of the trip along with about 5K miles of playing around the house in various states of inflation ranging from around 20psi when playing on dirt up to around 35 or so normally. So far,,,,, the 705 has been my favorite front by far. Long life, decent traction off road combined with decent traction on road too.
Now if Shinko {or someone, anyone} would just make a Big Block/TKC type rear that would go at least 4K miles {that isn't scarce as hen's teeth and doesn't cost an arm and a leg}.
